of the senate. 16 say, yes. no are 11. and undecided, 16. let's look at the breakdown by party. democrats, 9-4. republicans, 6-6. independents 1-1. in this political environment a yes for bernanke is quieter than a no. john harwood is reporting as many as 10 to 15 democrats could ultimately vote against bernanke. sources say a vote could take place next week not early this week. cnbc has learned that don kohn the vice chairman at the fed since 1970 will take over as chairman until a permanent replacement can be confirmed by the senate. now mere's the math, bernanke needs 60 votes to overcome a filibuster. three senators who holds on the vote. needs 51 votes to be confirmed. every democratic loss needs to be a republican gain for bernanke to overcome the filibuster. scott, i was taken by one thing we discovered today. senator corker who voted to vote bernanke out of committee is now undecided. he was a republican.

so that is one of the kind of change we've seen. we haven't seen a whole lot of change except for these essentially liberal democrats who have come out -- boxer and feingold -- oppose to bernanke. scott. >> okay, steve, thanks so much. >> sure. >> the real question here, of course, is how would wall street react to a bernanke departure? warren buffett the world's most famous investor predicts we would see a big sell-off in stocks. listen, as he praised bernanke in a cnbc live interview just two days ago. >> i think he's done a stellar job. >> reporter: what happens if he's not reconfirmed? what's at risk? >> well, just tell me a day ahead of time so that i can sell some stocks! >> now, here on the nyse floor, we do have anthony, he's with skybridge capital llc managing partner and rick bensignor at execution llc. steve liesman's with us of course. gentlemen, we just heard from warren buffett, is he overstating what the market

reacts if for some reason mr. bernanke were not reconfirmed. >> i don't think it's a good thing for the markets and i'm also not sure it's going to happen. bernanke, even if he's not elected chairman, still has the potentiality of being the head of the fomc. if he does he's still in control of the monetary policy and keep him there, it's the people on the fed who vote for the chairman themselves. i don't think they're going to bump him out. >> anthony, why is this support way waning in your view, do you see a support for bernanke and a change in the political landscape? >> we're in a new political environment with the -- election. bernanke is getting hilliared on both sides. the extreme right and the huge left and hoping that middle the hold for him and i think the lessons from the scott brown election is maybe we need to move to the middle. bernanke will go down in history. buffett would probably say this 200 years from now judging in

financial crisis he did a masterful job of pulling the world from the brink -- >> i agree. >> in crisis and frozen markets. >> other implications of the scott brown win -- i want to bring in steve liesman in a minute on the bernanke -- the economic implications. the scott brown win in mass from your standpoint. >> i think it's a clear win for the country. anytime that you can bring the country back into the center where you can get people coming up with nonpartisan solutions, it's better for the stock market, it's better for the global economy, it's better for capital markets, and i think democrats in massachusetts are sending a message, we want the partisan rhetoric to stop. and i think in bernanke's case here, if he wins, this will be a good sign for things to come. >> let's bring steve liesman into the conversation. steve, if for some reason mr. bernanke is not reconfirmed, certainly you may have a shock in the stock market on that given day, but at the end of the day, the discussion will really turn to perhaps who is next and what the implications are for policy more than the stock market?

>> yeah, by the way, who is next? is there a bench? >> reporter: you know, i don't know. i've been puzzling with people all day about about that question, maria. one idea that came up is dan turoulo, a fed governor appointed by bernanke -- i am sorry by obama. the question would be would you have a lawyer at the head of the fed? it's not been done before. it may not be looked upon kindly by markets. it's unclear how to find it, and i think scott was kind of alluding to this question as to, what would the policy be and how would it be different? i think there's a lot of agreement out there right now with the nals bernanke has, basically pursued with a kind of marge error of say, 50 basis points on, some say the fed should be tighter. a lot of people see this high unemployment. most people agree with the fed policy and done with its balance sheet and the efforts so far, limited they've been to sort of step towards an exit strategy. so i would think they could find

another person but there's not been a convincing case that's been embraced by the market about a different course right now. >> let's talk more about what's going on this week, because the bernanke upset and the concerns that have risen today, top a week that we had real concerns in this market. >> particularly the overhang the banks and the new proposals coming out of washington. >> particularly yesterday, obama's address yesterday. you have got the responsibility fee. you've got the proposal to split the capital markets business from the lending part of the business. what are your thoughts on that? >> to me, it seems kind of coincidental that it came right arch scott brown's victory. it seems highly political in my eyes. >> you think it was just a distraction on the administration's part? my think so. >> to get the health care conversation off of the table? >> yeah and i don't think this will be easy to pass this in the legislation and out in congress. it's out on the table. it's certainly not helped the market. six days ago, you and i stood

here the dow was 10722, we said this is the top right here. >> you did say that. >> and it's down 400, 500 points. >> good call, good call. what do you think, anthony? >> well, i think the right thing do is to go back to glass-steagall. what they're trying to do now is a derivative into that and tapping into a populist sentiment. they very negative thing. back to john maynor/cain's essay into the 1930s he said the worst thing policy could do is start punishing people for human behavior. we went off of the rails, we've done it before, let's do smart, sort of centrist things. >> glass-steagall. >> taking banks out of the proprietary trading will only widen spreads and cause disastrous effects for our capital markets. >> glass-steagall would be far more extreme than anything that the administration is proposing -- >> actually, you're not proposing going back to glass-steagall, are you? >> i would rather do that than the volcker clause. >> the volcker plan is much more

modest than going back to glass-steagall. glass-steagall would prohibit trading for their clients and a variety of other things that banks can do under the obama administration. >> yeah, let me sort of advance this, if i guess you talk about investing in banks in the current environment, regardless of what proposal ends up taking shape, meredith whitney, put out a note today she thinks not only it goes through but that it's not going to be pretty for either the banks or a consumers. in that environment, if she's correct and we do see some change in regulation, would you put any money into the banks as an investor. >> not now, no. if you really believe that this stuff's going to go through, markets coming off more, not just banks, the entire market's coming, we call for, at least a 10% sell-off. we've gotten 4% or so. and i think you kind of wait for valuations to reduce themselves to make stocks in a better place

for risk/reward to come back in. >> i'll say this, if meredith whitney is right and we all have to stop and rethink the policies that we're making in the administration in washington, one thing that's clearly happening in the obama administration is they're tunnelled in. they missed the scott brown victory. they're still confused by it. let's come up with some nonpartisan solutions that makes our banks do what they're supposed to do, which is freely allocate -- >> nonpartisan solutions aren't exactly part of the ball game. >> well, i think they're going to be and i think that's message from the election this week. i think that the republicans and the democrats have got to pull together now. the american public is tired of the politics and we need something in the middle that gives the banks the opportunity to do what they're supposed to do, which is freely allocate capital in our system, which will promote economic growth and create jobs. >> all right. >> need to create jobs. >> leave it there, gentlemen, thank you very much. yes, steve?

>> reporter: i'll be back at 4:00 with our update on the poll from our senate of how support is going for chairman ben bernanke. >> steve, thanks so much. steve will be work the phones. he'll be back at 4:00 as you heard with more on that. our team covering the markets. the market showing a decline. down 140 again. a lot of people were predictingby would see further declines given yesterday's news. >> the market hit lows as well when mr. obama was out in ohio making his comments again out at a townhall. >> get to our reporters covering things. kick off with bob pisani here next to us. >> look, he's next to us. we really are friends. we do talk to each other. i continue doesn't often look that way in a million different places but we're all good friends. good to see you. good volatility, volume for three months and finally, finally it's picking up here. hey, look at vix here intraday. a lot of talk about call buying in the vix. that means that people are buying volatility. starting to move into the markets and play a little volatility. everybody back to wait. shorting the market for month now and thinking about doing it,

why aren't they shorting? because they got burned. now working it a little bit. they'll do it until it stops working. the tough week here, look at the confluence of events that we've had. china is the number one issue, happened earlier in the week and then the bank reform thing with president obama and then the bernanke thing, a lot for the market to absorb and despite that, 4% off of the highs. that was tuesday, it seemed like so long ago but hardly a correction and certainly of course getting people's attention down here. how about what's going on with the financials? well, just a terrible week. gold's down seven and now probably 8%. morgan stanley, same situation here. and look at the earnings situation. remember, we're in the middle of earnings. this is good and bad here. the earnings situation, the bottom line is doing better, better than people thought, but there hasn't been top-line growth. the s&p this morning, interesting note. only up 0.7% year over year, that's not a big improvement, ex-financials a little disappoint png here are the financial, morgan stanley, of course bank of america, all down 6%, 7%, 8% on the week here.

american express had their earnings out, that's not helping them today, look at that, down 8%. capital one also down noticeably and then you've got the earnings situation. other stocks. schlumberger had their earnings out, a few days, for schlumberger. the bottom line is they're charging lower prices for their oil services and of course their margins are under pressure. stocks are selling today on the earnings report. and then you have the tech situation, which is a very difficult time right now, because they all ran up ahead of earnings season but they're not doing that well. you've got citigroup coming out, downgreeding the whole semiconductor capital equipment group, so amat, teradyne, that group is all under pressure right now. let's go to rick santelli standing by in chicago. enough for you to digest there, rickster? >> reporter: i asked everyone around me what the word of the week was, and the word of the week was, unanimous, confusion. that an uncertainty, i guess that was the tie for second. so you put it any n any context that you wish. the dollar index stellar week,

even when the small drag today. profit-taking, a lot of it started at europe's close hours ago. close to a penny. the two years, the short coupon maturity part the curve, which we will auction next week, it's down about seven basis points. out to a ten, it's down about eight basis points and even though maturities, yields are up slightly on the day. now if you want to talk about next week's supply, let's get down to the numbers. on monday you have t-bills. six months, $23, $25 billion. undisclosed of one-month bills, last month it was $10 billion, look for a little bit more. then on tuesday you have $44 billion in two-year notes. wednesday you have $42 billion five-year notancy on thursday you have $32 billion seven-year notes. $18 billion in coupon supply and not to mention a fed meeting of what could be a lame-duck fed president. does it any anymore exciting? and oh, gdp, first week look from today, fourth quarter. scott and maria, back to you. have a good weekend.

>> you too, rick. thanks so much. >> yeah, it's going to be an interesting week, that's for sure. >> we have about 45 minutes to go on this friday. the dow jones industrial average is now down 155 points. the third consecutive day, maria, of a triple-digit decline. >> the low of the day, scott. >> the low. day, for sure. down 160. now, big losses, certainly for the dow. biggest losers there. american express, maria, is down almost 9%. alcoa's off more than 5%. >> once again it's the commodities trade and the financials service companies that are really leading this decline, the group that actually took us up from the lows back in april of last year. president obama's proposal to put tough, new restrictions on the size of scope of banks, it's what everyone's talking about. up next we'll talk about it as well. whether or not you should be buying the banks or shifting your cash into regional banks instead? plus, we're talking sector strategy with bank of america's david bianco. find out where he says the utilities can help power your portfolio this year. and then after the bell, our treasury secretary tim geithner on federal reserve ben bernanke

on their way out of their jobs in washington. what would this changing of the guard mean to the nation's economic future? we've got answers 4:00 p.m. eastern. but first the most active stocks on the new york stock exchange, led as usual, by citigroup, some of the other financial, bank of america, the parent of this network on the back of good earnings, general electric. there, is bucking that downward trend, it is positive today. but jpmorgan chase to the downside. you are watching cnbc. national car rental? that's my choice.

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welcome back. the market today still grapelling with what obama administration's banking nirktives will mean for the financial sector. xlf today down better than 3%. the president's initiatives are bringing more volatility, but is it an opportunity for investors? joining me now is anton schutz, president of menden capital. good to see you, anton. thank you for joining us. you've been an investor in this space for a long time and a great student of the financial system, in general. what is your take on the proposals coming out of washington? >> it makes no sense. it really doesn't accomplish a whole lot. if you really think about the lines of business that they're addressing, they really didn't have anything to do do with this financial crisis.

they're going after prop trading. what did that have do with the meltdown? nothing. what did the financial hedge funds do with the meltdown, nothing. it doesn't make a whole lot of sense to stop them from engaging in these businesses. and also, why penalize the banks to pay for the losses that the car companies have created? >> well, you know, i don't think that people would say that the car companies created the overall, you know, upset when we were on the brink there when lehman brothers went bankrupt. but certainly, the automakers were a part of the financial upset. there's no doubt about it. and they, in some cases, drove their companies into the ground. >> well, if you look at the t.a.r.p. money, paulson didn't want to give money to the auto companies because he knew that people about political football. the government's made an 8% return on them. and, oh, by the way, the government still owns shares in citigroup. as warrants bank of america and these proposals have obviously diminished the value of what we, the taxpayer, own. >> no doubt that the president has been listening to the unions. >> indeed. >> and they delivered the votes

for him. do you think it's because he's -- do you think he's being easier on the autos because the union delivered his votes? >> there's no doubt in my mind. if you think about it, chrysler, the banks were secured lenders. he called them greedy. well, that's case law. i mean, they had a position. it went to the supreme court, they didn't want to take it on. but, the union's got a line of the share of the equity. the banks got crushed. >> yeah, it's interesting to me, really, the reasoning for this. so many people have come on in the last 48 hours, and said, this is just stupid plan. and it just -- they don't understand it. on the other hand, i can understand wanting to strip away the very, very risky types of businesses from deposits of americans and not leverage up that deposit base. how do you do that? keep the banks large and liquid and you know, well capitalized but not impact the deposit base from their riskier businesses. >> you just said an important

word, you said "deposits." the fdic is created. yes there's an explicit guarantee behind the government, but it hasn't cost government any money. just collected $45 billion from the banks to replenish its stock. >> now given the fact that so many of us own banks in our portfolios, in our 401(k)s, pension funds, whatever, this is a widely held group. and also taxpayers own citigroup, let's not forget that. we're out and out, along with other financial services companies. there's an impact to all of us as well. >> sure. i mean, the president talks about outrage at the banks, yet index funds all own citi, goldman sachs, morgan stanley, jpmorgan, bank of america. >> so why would he do that, then? i don't understand the motivation. >> you know i think -- >> is it because it's what's popular to do? people figure, let's beat up on

the banks. it's popular, let's join the bandwagon. >> absolutely. you're demonizing the banks. jamie dimon said that before, stop demonizing the banks. i suspect when people look at their 401(k)s and see the value of them down because they've dropped so much in the last few days. i mean everybody owns index funds own these banks. >> final question, if in fact this rule goes through, in fact goes the distance, which a lot of people are questioning, would you want to invest in banks? >> they're stimreally cheap and by the way the voice of reason yesterday, barney frank, actually said -- >> oh, he was the voice of reason. >> he was the voice of reason yesterday. he said it would take three to five years if this made it through, to actually get there, so i think we have an opportunity there. >> what is going on in this market? point out the situation, let's show a chart the dow jones industrials today, because we are on the lows of the day, and things are worsening right here. the dow jones industrials down 178 points. at 10209. we're seeing real deleveraging going on in this market right

now, anton, what's behind this, in your view? >> certainly, talk of bernanke not being reappointed is huge. i mean, first of all, you're diminishing, really, any sort of belief in capitalism in this country when you are coming out, putting out all of these laws in place that are antibusiness. now the guy that everybody knows, took us out of what could had been the next great depression, great student of that market who absolutely deserves a statue down here, you want to take him out? >> yeah. >> i mean, it's nuts. >> yeah. all right, we'll leave it there. thanks very much. anton schutz, good to see you always, appreciate your insights on the market. we're looking at financial, aluminum companies, certainty commodity sector, under pressure, severely here. by the way, oil is also under pressure today, because commodities across the board are down. it's down, again, better than $1 a barrel. we've got a preview of all the big earnings investors will be digesting next week and also get you set up of what will be a very busy week for the economy and earnings.

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of all luxury vehicles. hi, folks, welcome back to the "closing bell." i'm matt nesto. i want to draw your attention to shares of rambus and also nvidia. it looks like the international

trade commission has ruled in favor of rambus and said that indeed, three of their patents were infringed by nvidia. it could lead to a possible ban of chip imports, certain chips from nvidia. you could see shares of rambus popping through $43 -- excuse me $25 per share. that is closing in on a two-year high. it's at his best level of the session here today. at the same time, thank you, as if on queue. nvidia down to 3% and falling to its lows of the session. maria, back. >> you all right, matt, thanks very much. well, there is no slowing down the earnings period next week. cnbc's managing editor tyler mathisen with us. >> reporter: thanks. this past week in earnings central was all about the banks and throw in general electric today for good measure, next week you have a real panopoly of companies that would reflect very well, the u.s. and global economy, at large. let's go through next week and tell you which ones to look for and a little bit of highlights

coming up. on monday you've got apple that company has been sort of the underpromised, overdelivered king. 15% beats each of the four last quarters on eps. now, obviously, the big story for apple next week is going to be come wednesday, when that company introduces what is thought by everybody to be this tablet of multimedia reading device. you've got halliburton coming out on monday as well. that one, too has beaten the eps estimates for five straight quarters. the street is looking are there for 27 cents a share. amgen, from the biotech world, coming out on monday as well. they've got some things -- concerns regarding their anemia drugs, among other things. so that one will be closely watched. that stock was up earlier today. tuesday, here you get back into basic blocking and tackling in the american economy. dup o dupont will probably swing to a profit this year. uh-oh, what happened. it just went away. dup ont there it is, 41 cents a share on $6.16 billion in

revenue. johnson & johnson, this company, another basic staple of consumer and pharmaceutical, the company, most recently, dealing with some concerns over a couple of their drugs, recalls there. verizon, what's going to happen here on that one? as you move along, boeing, still struggling with the 787 dreamliner. caterpillar, looking for, both revenues and profits to decline rather mightily on wednesday. 37% decline in revenue forecast and a 74% demand from eps. moving onto thursday, another biggie there in at&t. procter & gamble and the biggest of them all, in terms of sort of market moving potential there, there might be microsoft. you're looking there to see what is going on with windows 7, which obviously launched in the fourth quarter. and on friday, rounding them out, energy and the diversified industrial company, honeywell, looking for 90 cents a share there, which would be a 7% decline on eps compared to last year. so a very, very busy week ahead.

once again, a very broad look at the global and u.s. economies. scott? >> ty, thanks so much. it is time now for the "fast money" final call with volatility coming back in a big way in the markets this week, here to tell you what the moves mean and what you should be doing in terms of trying to grab profits in commodities is tim seymour, partner with semgen and a "fast money" contributor. >> scott, how are you doing. >> i'm all right except for the fact that i'm looking at 172-point decline on the dow. at the lows of the day. looking at a 400-point decline for the week. the biggest three-day drop in nearly a year. sure as heck feels like -- sure as heck feels like the correction, tim. >> it does. well, and what you shouldn't be doing is selling volatility here and it's amazing to me that the complacency that the market had coming into the first part of this week, only in the last couple of days have you seen people buying protection. that's one the reasons that volatility's spiking but we're at a couple of really interesting places from a technical perspective and

they're meeting the fundamentals. in other words, you know the dollar, which has been incredibly strong, which has been the death nail for a lot of these commodity names, is actually failed at the 200-moving day. and that's a pretty significant thing, where a lot of guys might have said, let me jump back in and buy emerging market, some of these high-beta commodity names like freeport, steele or petro china, pet ra bas. u.s. steel for example trading at $55 right now roughly and change after moving down 15% or so over three days. 200-moving day thing, already down at $40. you really have to be careful with the number of these commodity names, even though some of the technical signals and the thing that worked for you yesterday seem to be working today. >> well, especially -- especially if you consider that if the dollar keeps on this strengthening trend, it's at a five-month high or so versus the euro, if the dollar keeps strengthening it'll be awfully hard to know to make money in

commodity stocks. >> reporter: well, it is especially if you think that the growth from china is going to be choked off, and that's the other part of what happened this week. people thought -- people thought that the people's bank of china would step in a much more aggressive clip -- and excuse me, raise rates in china, which most people felt the only place showing real demand for commodities. i don't think that's case, by the way, i think that this week's reaction to china was overdone. i think that they're tapping the brakes and i think that china growth is an impressive story that, actually right now, is not overheating. they're doing their best to actually monitor policy there. >> tim -- timmy. >> okay. >> let's assume this is the correction that people have been talking about. how far down do you think that this market does go? >> well, you know, 1085 on the s&p is a place where people are very, very nervous. that's a level that you know, we test back and in fact we've danced with for the last three mochkts. that's a level where i think there is very good support. if you fail there, again, you go back to the 200-moving day, that's around you know 1,012, 1,015. i think that the guys want to buy the market at 10850.

the wild card here is the policy response this week. >> not have a nobody knows what to do with. in you've got bernanke's appointment being delayed and then you've got speculation it doesn't happen. i don't know when you can buy the market when you have policy in the last three, four days. >> understood. >> which has blown up in your face. >> all right, man. tim have, a good weekend, okay? >> thanks. see you tonight. >> tim seymour partner with seygem assets. . on "fast money" tonight, did the correction begin this week? the key levels, you've got watch for and the ways to protect your profits. plus the setup ahead of apple, microsoft, amazon and yahoo! earnings next week. that is all coming up live at 5:00. we are looking at a market, maria, down, at least for the dow, down 170 points. we've been saying 400-point loss this week. the biggest three-day decline in nearly a year for these markets. >> yeah. and you do have the leadership being financials and commodities, alcoa down, as you mentioned, 5%. jpmorgan down today almost down

another 4%. citi, bank of america, wells fargo, dit o2%, 5% on the banks. and alcoa you mentioned is a story with that decline of 5.5%. >> yep. >> is the market's three-day sell-off creating buying opportunities or will this be the case for the near term? we've got some answers. we'll check investing in this environment next up. tdd# 1-800-345-2550 investors got lost in the shuffle. tdd# 1-800-345-2550 investment firms forgot whose money it is. tdd# 1-800-345-2550 enough is enough. tdd# 1-800-345-2550 it's time investors got what they deserve. tdd# 1-800-345-2550 real help that's there when you need it. tdd# 1-800-345-2550 pricing that leaves you with something to actually invest. tdd# 1-800-345-2550 at schwab, we offer a lot more help for a lot less money. tdd# 1-800-345-2550 because at schwab... tdd# 1-800-345-2550 investors rule. tdd# 1-800-345-2550 are you ready to rule?

and with about 30 minutes left until the closing bell, here's how the markets are shaping up. and really focusing on the fact that you're looking at a 400-point loss or so for the week here. the biggest three-day decline in nearly a year. and let me also point out here, as long as the dow jones industrial average closes below 10231, right now it's at 10218. it's going to have its worst week since hitting that 12-year intraday low back on march the 6th. so back when we the march lows there. so you are talking about a market that is a -- deteriorating here as we head toward the close of trading.

nasdaq weak as well, down 55 points or so. the s&p 500 following suit here, as it is a broad market sell-off on this friday. maria? >> all right, meanwhile, another take on the markets. we turn on that cnbc investor network. web cam connection. straight today from anop plic, maryland, adrian day, chairman and ceo with adrian day asset management. adrian, thank you for joining us. >> thank you. >> what do you think is behind the sell-off here? >> well, i have no more insight than anyone else. this is very clear, but investors are absolutely spooked by some of the political rhetoric we're hearing. you know it's populist rhetoric in the worst kind in my view and so it's not surprising, people want out of stocks right now and people want out of the dollar. the real question is, where do they put the money? but it's not surprising that people want to get out. >> so how are you investing? where do you put the money right now? >> frankly, we're at cash and boullion at moment. but i would be buying gold

bouillon today. at 100, it's hit good support. it's right at 100-day moving average. it's had a correction, which we weren't expecting pin think this is a good time to buy. but other than that, we are really not buying very much of anything. we've got a lot of cash and we're just being patient, waiting. >> what are you wait ago so you're waiting for better valuations, this market to go down, to get in at better prices? >> absolutely. better valuations here. i mean the s&p is not cheap, let's face it. we're selling just a little over 2% -- two times' book. less than two times' yield. these are not cheap valuations. but we're also waiting for some of the asian markets, some of the ever-emerging markets to decline as well, because they've had such strong moves recently. we'd like to get in. the valuations are better than developed markets. i think the finances of the governments and the finances of the households are much stronger, by in large. but we just want to see better -- better opportunities. there's only one stock we're buying today, and i see it on the screen, so i'll mention it. that's royal gold.

and that's a good, quality gold stock, a very defensive gold stock, but it's off because of some acquisition they're making. so that's a good buy. i think we're just holding cash and then we're looking for opportunistic buy, frankly. >> all right, leave there. adrian, good to talk to you. thanks so much. >> maria, thank you so much. >> we'll see you soon. have a good weekend. we continue to see this market deteriorate. the dow jones industrial average down 185 points. scott, worth mentioning, ge actually higher by better than 1%. on the heels of the company's better than expected, parent company of cnbc. >> indicative of the market today, generally electric was up as 4%. general electric on this day when the stock was higher is well off of its bevel levels. strategy session with bank of america's don bianco. and then after the bell, is the free market or government regulation the best solution to fixing the economy? the surprising results of a new survey, 4:00 p.m. eastern.

let's look at the markets here. with the selling accelerating in the final few minutes of trading here. we've got 15 minutes before the

closing bell sounds. the dow jones industrial average is almost down 2% here decline of 195 points. you can see from this intraday chart things have worsened in the last 20 minutes or so and largely to the banks and the commodities. morgan stanley is up better than 6%. jpmorgan down about 4%. citigroup, bank of america, all the banks down. scott mentioned alcoa, down 6%. as well as health care, as well as the oils, we are looking at it the across-the-board selling here for the third straight day. and, scott, at this point, the decline on the week, if we end where we are right now we've got the worst weekly showing since -- >> yeah the march lows for the dow jones industrial average. >> since march lows. >> if we go below 10231, we're going to hit that market and it sure looks the way that the market is trending right now that that's going to happen, and volume's picked up as well as the market's started sell-off. let's bring in david bianco who says it is time for investors to energize their portfolios. one of his most bullish bets for

2010 is the energy sector. and david is the head of u.s. equity strategy at bank of america/merrill lynch global research. joins me now to explain all of that. david, i know that we're here to talk about energy. >> that's right. >> and oil, and the like, but let's get your take here. we're looking at a dow jones industrial average that is now off 200 points. and in the context of what wei talked about of what is in store for the whole week. it sure as heck feels like we're in the midst of this correction that we've been talking about, and as i said, volume's picking up as well. what do you make of it. >> that has become a very disappointing day, disappointing week. the earnings estimates have been good, but consumer confidence has shake nen politics and in america's commitment to capitalism and i'm encouraging investors to take advantage of this dip by buying something that's more sensitive to asia, and that's energy, oil. take advantage of the sell-off by looking at energy eches. >> you're a buyer on the dip. you think this is just a momentarily blip? >> well, listen, i think that these political fears are real,

that the week started off weakley because of some concerns about china, investors were complaining about fancy, free bullish sentiment among investors. but this political shock is what is really weighing on investor's nerves and beating up the financial, obviously. >> yeah. >> so what i would say is look at something that's more connected to asia, oil, energy stocks, and take advantage of the dip, yes, indeed. >> yeah, but what if i've worried, david, about china slowing down? you've got fears that china may tighten, may slow down, in general. how are you playing that whole scenario? >> we're not worried about it. we think that china will have good growth in 2010 and the thing i like about oil, i think that oil is the ultimate consumable. it's sensitive to growth and there will be demand growth for oil out of china even if their peeves economic economic activity slows down, so if if comes down to commodities to most safely play, i would point to oil and energy. >> what is your look for oil prices? in some respect you have to have

oil prices to go higher in order for this trade to work out. i see oil prices certainly ticking downward yet again, below 75 bucks. we're barely holding $74. and even though for a time it may look like we may go to a hundred, no-brainer in oil, and now it may looks like closer to 50. >> yeah, well, they're weak right that the moment. we don't expect them to go to 50. we think more of a chance to go up to 100. oil price forecast is $85 for 2010. and importantly, we think that oil prices are going to go up without dollar weakness and that will lead to p/e expansion at the energy sect are. >> give me ideas where to look to make money. it's hard to make money on a day like this but tell me where you can find it, not only now, but in the months ahead. >> what i point out is if you believe in the energy story that asia is going to grow, dmodity prices are going to rise, that i would point you to the industrial sector. it's sensitive to the same macroeconomic forces. asia's discovered capitalism. maybe we're losing it but eyegot confidence that those sectors exposed to that growth are going to do fine. >> david, have a great weekend.

>> you too. >> all right, catch you soon. i have about ten minutes to go, maria, before the closing bell is going to close out the week here, and a rough week it has been. a 400-point decline, or so, perhaps a little bit worse than that, that the market -- at least the dow and down now some 218 points. >> we're certainly worsening as we approach this close. you were next, matt nesto gives us the update on earnings season. a lot of reports out next week. national car rental? that's my choice.

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welcome back to the "closing bell." i'm cnbc pharmaceutical's reporter mike huckman live at nasdaq with breaking news on a nasdaq-traded biotech called accorda therapeutics. ocor. and shares are taking off at the moment on word that the company has just officially one food and drug administration approval of its oral drug, a pill, for a multiple sclerosis. a drug that helps people with m.s., walk better and faster. this is a very debilitating disease, and a growing market with significant medical need. this drug is partnered outside of the united states with biogen

idic, in addition, elan makes this drug, ticker eln, for acorda therapeutics. has won new approval for its new fda drug. >> my, thanks so much. hard to believe that we're already about 1/5 of the way through earnings season. back with us now, a look, we need the number, cnbc's matt nesto, doing the old number crunching. >> reporter: yeah, we're going to call it the earnings/learning curve, maria. >> okay. >> reporter: take a look at the performance of the s&p, alcoa to date, you're down almost 5% during the fourth quarter earnings season. of course it's worsened up here in the last hour. but take a look at the scorecard according to thompson/reuter 92 members of the s&p 500 insofar. so far the earnings are up 193%. that is actually a little bit better than expected.

78% have beat estimates by an average margin of 21%. and the materials, the industrials and the financials are proving to be twice as likely to actually miss their estimates. if you look at market performance, not earnings performance, the groups that are winning are the health care and the staples, the materials and the financials are the key losers, more than double the decline that we've seen in the s&p, which itself, i said is down almost 5% so far in earnings season. and the best is yet to come next week. back to you. >> okay, matt, thanks so much. maria, let's talk about this market for a second. down more than 200 points now for the dow jones industrial average. down more than 400 points for the week. and the dow is looking at its worst week since the march lows. in fact march of '09. so that gives you an idea of the deterioration that we've seen in the market. volatility has certain picked up, 1.2 billion shares traded hands today, so as the market has declined as we edge toward the closing bell here, you've

seen volume tick higher and it's a broad-based sell-off as well. financial names, american express for one is down 9% and big financials are down 3%, 4%, perhaps 5%. materials, commodities, et cetera, are all down today, maria. >> where the volume is as well. not only has volume picked up but volatility index has picked up as well. we had technology hit as well. stocks were at highs for the year just a couple weeks ago. we had 15-month highs and the most heavily traded stocks today include many of the financials ahead of a pretty big earnings week next week. no doubt about it, regardless of the earnings coming out next week and any economic data that we've got, it is the politics of this market and washington dictating what happens for investors. >> there is absolutely no doubt about that. the major averages are off 4% now from the 15-month highs, just set, this week otuesday, maria. >> yeah, oil down 2.75%. looking at an across-the-board leveraging.

we'll take a short break and then we have the closing countdown next. >> after the bell, tim geithner and ben bernanke both coming under tremendous fire and may be on the way out washington, but would that hurt an economic recovery? some answers ahead at 4:00 p.m. you are watching cnbc, first in business world wide.

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and welcome back to the floor of the new york stock exchange. it's time now for the closing countdown. art cashin was just walking by, said "we're closing at the lows of the day" and that's on a friday and also the fact that we broke 10200 on the dow jones industrial average. right now the dow looks like it will go out with a 225-point loss. so you're looking at a 400-plus point decline on this week. the dow jones industrial average, having its worst week since march. that gives you the idea of the magnitude of the drop on wall street that we have seen over the past few days. you could cite a number of factors, whether it's earnings that haven't lived up to some of the expectations, event in case of earnings thabeet expectations, but praft didn't live up to the lofty expectation, those stocks have been punished. regulation proposals coming out of washington and president obama his administration have not done well for this stock market and all of the uncertainty for bernanke, reconfirmation there, it adds up

to a 225-point decline on this friday in the markets. a rough one on wall street. here's maria and the "closing bell." and it is 4:00 on wall street. do you know where your money is? hi, everybody. welcome back to the "closing bell." i'm maria bartiromo on the floor of the new york stock exchange. another huge sell-off on wall street today. stocks down in the triple-digit once again. this is the third straight day of triple-digit moves, lower. due to ongoing concerns coming out of washington, that president obama's proposal to put new restrictions on the banking sector could hurt an economic recovery. that remains chime to gain traction. we just spoke to mr. greenspan and we'll have his comments coming up. bernanke's term ends in 19 days, but the senate hasn't even scheduled a reconfirmation vote. now, some prominent senate democrats say they will vote against bernanke, putting a second term in jeopardy. here's what former federal reserve chairman alan greenspan told us just moments ago through

his spokesperson. he saidquit as steve liesman has been following bernanke's prospects for weeks now. putting calls into all 100 senators to find out how they will vote on bernanke. he'll join nus just a moment with the latest details on those calls. but first, take a look at the the deterioration on wall street today, once again. the financial sector down between 2% and 10%. the dow jones industrial average down more than 2%. at 219 points lower at 10170. this, after hitting 15-month highs just a week ago. the s&p 500 down 25 points, 2.25% at 1091. and nasdaq composite down 2%% at 2 wo 05. go to the action right now with the dow having its worst week since just before the march lows. this is the worst week since march 6th. that, of course, was the moment in time when we saw the worst and then the markets soared from there. >> right, and bear,